The Ideal By Which All Else Is Judged
by gawilliams
Summary: Booth corrects a misimpression of Bones'.  Short episode addition to The Blackout In The Blizzard.


_This one came to me after watching the latest episode. I wondered about what Booth may have been thinking when Bones said she was "getting better". This is my take on what could have happened, yet still keep it canon with the ending of the episode. I hope you enjoy it. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Booth and Bones leaned back in the stadium seats from the Vet and were each lost in their own thoughts. For both of them this was nice. It had been a long time since they had just enjoyed each other's presence without anything else to intrude.

Booth was in awe of the fact that they seemed to finally be on the same page about them, and seemingly they were in agreement that them being together was _**not**_ a matter of _**if**_, but _**when**_. On the elevator she actually used the term _**making love**_ when they had been talking about whether they had ever entertained thoughts of them having sex in the past. Given what they had just done with the wish papers and the burning of them, he was feeling very certain that if she had been referring to being with anyone else she would not have said _**making love**_. It would have been _**having sex**_, or _**taking care of biological imperatives**_, or any of the other phrases she'd used in the past to hide from the emotions she had fought for so long in her private life.

Something she said, though, bothered him, or, rather, the implications of it. She'd said she'd been getting better. That was something he couldn't let slide. It meant that for some reason she felt that she had to improve in order to be able to have a relationship. That simply wasn't true in his opinion.

"Why did you say you're getting better?" he asked, keeping the concern out of his voice.

Bones turned in her stadium seat and looked at him. "Because I have," she replied. "I'm beginning to feel that I can be in a relationship and not let the fears I've had consume me. It's what caused me to hurt you so much last year, and made me break down a few months ago. You deserved better than what I had to offer, and I wanted you to know that I am getting better about that. I wanted you to know that I can see us together."

"You've been just fine for as long as I've known you, Bones," he told her, taking another drink of his beer.

"What do you mean?" she asked. She'd been working on using different phrases instead of _**I don't know what that means**_ all the time when she was confused.

Booth sighed. Over the years he'd come to enjoy her confusion, and also enjoyed being the one to patiently let her know things. She'd taught him a lot about science and other things he'd always found incredibly dull, so it was a way for him to show his appreciation. This, though, was deeper than he liked getting, but knew he needed to explain.

"I know you try for perfection in everything, Bones," he said cautiously. He held up his hand to forestall any protests, or explanations. "I know perfection is impossible, but you strive for it anyway. That's a good thing. But I gotta tell ya, when it comes to you as a person, to me you've always been the ideal from which to measure how close to perfection someone is. I never wanted you to change, Bones, and if that was one of your fears, that you didn't know if I would stick around because you weren't what I was _**really**_ looking for, then you couldn't have been more wrong. I think it's great that you're more engaged with the people around you, and you're trying to learn the colloquialisms and add some humor into your daily life, but in terms of a possible relationship between us, it isn't necessary."

Bones took it all in, and reveled in what he was saying. He accepted her, both now and before her epiphany in Maluku and the aftermath. Her efforts were appreciated, but at the same time he was letting her know that **_when_** they were together, it wasn't what was going to make it work. They already did work because of the foundation that had been built by their long friendship and shared passions.

"But you're not ready yet," she stated.

"Not yet," he nodded, reiterating what he'd effectively said earlier.

"Because you're angry," she said without judgment.

"Yeah," he replied. He looked at her and smiled. "We really are on the same page, aren't we?" he asked in a kind of ironic tone.

Bones nodded, a smile gracing her lips. "Finally," she said as she leaned back and once more enjoyed the soft lighting in the room. And, most especially, Booth's company.

Booth leaned back too, and contemplated Bones. His ideal. The woman who defined what he had always wanted but never found until he met her. It was only too bad that it took so long, and so many hurt feelings to fully understand what finding the ideal truly meant. But he would work on his anger, and make sure that he didn't make such a foolish mistake as to lose sight of that ideal ever again.

_A/N: Yes, very short, but I think a nice add on that adds a bit of depth to what she said. I hope you all enjoyed this one. The next chapter to my story _Making The First Move_ is slowly coming about, but it has been much more difficult to write than I thought it would be. I hope that I can get it done and posted sometime in the next week. Gregg._


End file.
